We Need a Little Christmas (album)

We Need a Little Christmas is the fifth Christmas album by American pop singer Andy Williams (and his forty-second studio album overall) that was released by Unison Music in 1995.[2] It gives an adult contemporary treatment to songs that Williams had previously recorded for 1963's The Andy Williams Christmas Album ("Away In A Manger", "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)", "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year", "Silent Night"), 1965's Merry Christmas ("Mary's Little Boy Child"), 1974's Christmas Present ("Angels We Have Heard On High", "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", "What Child Is This"), and 1990's I Still Believe in Santa Claus ("I'll Be Home for Christmas") and includes three songs that Williams had not recorded before. In a brief note on the back of the jewel case Williams writes, "These all-new recordings feature fresh, innovative arrangements of some of my favorite carols. I felt like I was singing them for the very first time."[2]

For the Pentatonix album, see We Need a Little Christmas (Pentatonix album).
We Need a Little Christmas
Studio album by
Andy Williams
ReleasedJune 19, 1995[1][2]
Recorded1995[2]
StudioQuad Studio,
Nashville, Tennessee,
Studio 3319,
Nashville, Tennessee,
Synchrosound Studios,
Nashville, Tennessee,
CMP Studio,
Nashville, Tennessee,
Joy Spring Farm Studio,
Liepers Fork, Tennessee,
Digital Domain Studio,
Irvine, California,
The Battery,
Nashville, Tennessee[2]
Genre
Length44:53
LabelUnison Music
ProducerDon Boyer[2]
Andy Williams chronology
16 Most Requested Songs: Encore!
(1995)		 We Need a Little Christmas
(1995)		 The Best of Andy Williams
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]

The Recording Industry Association of America awarded the album Gold certification for sales of 500,000 units on February 2, 1998.[1]

Track listing
  1. "Mary's Little Boy Child" (Jester Hairston) – 4:14
  2. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (Kim Gannon, Walter Kent, Buck Ram) – 3:21
  3. "Up on the House Top" (Benjamin Hanby) – 3:08
  4. "Away in a Manger" (traditional) – 3:01
  5. "We Need a Little Christmas" (Jerry Herman) – 3:33
  6. Angel Medley – 4:40
    a. "Angels We Have Heard On High" (traditional)
    b. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (Felix Mendelssohn, Charles Wesley)
  7. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) – 4:02
  8. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Edward Pola, George Wyle) – 3:34
  9. "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" (traditional) – 2:33
  10. "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" (John Baptiste Calkin, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) – 3:08
  11. "What Child Is This" (William Chatterton Dix) – 4:10
  12. "Silent Night" (Franz Xaver Gruber; Joseph Mohr) – 5:29

Song information

Of the three songs on the album that Williams had not recorded before, "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" is the least traceable in origin, although it is estimated that it was written in the late 19th century.[4] The year in which "Up on the House Top" was written is also uncertain, but because its creator, Benjamin Hanby, was in his mid-30s when he died in 1867, the 1850s or 1860s is the estimate.[5] The third newcomer, "We Need a Little Christmas", comes from the 1966 Broadway musical Mame.[6]

Personnel

From the liner notes for the original album:[2]

  • Strings recorded at Woodland Studios, Nashville, Tennessee, and Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, Illinois
  • Andy Williams's vocals recorded at Caravell Recording Studio, Branson, Missouri
  • Mixed at Quad Studios, Recording Arts and 16th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee
  • Edited at Open Door Productions, Old Hickory, Tennessee
  • Mastered at MasterMix, Nashville, Tennessee

References
  1. "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. Retrieved 10 June 2017. Type Andy Williams in the Search box and press Enter.
  2. (1995) We Need a Little Christmas by Andy Williams [CD booklet]. Nashville: Unison Music V20044.
  3. "We Need a Little Christmas - Andy Williams". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  4. Studwell 1995, p. 177.
  5. Studwell 1995, p. 181.
  6. "Mame". ibdb.com. The Broadway League. Retrieved 7 November 2011.

Bibliography
  • Studwell, William Emmett (1995), The Christmas Carol Reader, Routledge, ISBN 1-56024-974-9
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